Blogs

Web Shows

Resources

Terrorists attack shopping mall in Kenya

Zipporah Mureithi, 34, is helped by relatives as she weeps after identifying the body of her father Paul, 56, at the city morgue in Nairobi, Sept. 24 2013.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says security forces have finally defeated a small group of al Qaeda-linked terrorists terrorists after four days in fighting at a Nairobi mall.

The standoff began around midday on Saturday, when an estimated 10 to 15 militants from the al Qaeda-linked and Somalia-based group al-Shabab stormed the mall, shooting indiscriminately and hurling grenades inside the large shopping center popular with Westerners.

Kenyan Defense Forces leave the close vicinity of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Sept. 23 2013.

Multiple large blasts have rocked the mall where a hostage siege is in its third day. Security forces have been attempting to rescue an unknown number of hostages inside the mall held by al Qaeda linked terrorists.

Credit: Jerome Delay/AP

Kenyan police officers dive for cover as large explosions and heavy gunfire are heard from the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Sept. 23, 2013.

Credit: Ben Curtis/AP

Kenyan security personnel wave at bystanders to take cover as heavy gunfire erupts from the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Sept. 23 2013.

Credit: Jerome Delay/AP

A Kenyan policeman keeps crowds of onlookers back from the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Sept. 23, 2013.

Early Sunday morning, 12 hours after the attack began, gunmen remained holed up inside the mall with an unknown number of hostages.

Credit: Ben Curtis/AP

Groups of onlookers gather on a road looking down over the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, Sept. 22, 2013.

Multiple barrages of gunfire erupted Sunday morning from the upscale Kenyan mall where there is a hostage standoff with Islamic extremists nearly 24 hours after they attacked using grenades and assault rifles.

Credit: Ben Curtis/AP

Relatives help a woman at the Nairobi City Mortuary after she identified the body of a victim of the mall attack in Kenya, Sept. 22, 2013.

Credit: Khalil Senosi/AP

A Kenyan police officer runs towards a crowd outside the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Sept. 22, 2013. Kenyan troops battled on Sunday to end a siege in an upmarket shopping mall and free hostages held by Somali militants. Sporadic gunfire and explosions could be heard as Kenyan security officials said they were attempting to kill or capture the remaining attackers and end the bloodbath at the Westgate mall.

Credit: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images

A line of soldiers from the Kenya Defense Forces runs in front of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Sept. 22, 2013.

Multiple barrages of gunfire erupted Sunday morning from the upscale Kenyan mall where there is a hostage standoff with Islamic extremists nearly 24 hours after they attacked using grenades and assault rifles.

Credit: Ben Curtis/AP

Kenyans look at a local daily newspaper with the front page featuring the bloodbath at the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Sept. 22, 2013.

on Sunday Kenyan troops remained locked in a fierce firefight with Somali militants inside the shopping mall.

Credit: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

Kenya Defense Forces arrive at the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Sept. 22, 2013. Kenyan troops were locked in a fierce firefight with Somali militants inside an upmarket Nairobi shopping mall on Sept. 22 in a final push to end a siege that has left dozens dead and nearly 200 wounded, with an unknown number of hostages still being held.

Credit: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

People run from the Westgate Mall, an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, as shooting erupted when armed men staged an attack. A witness to the assault at the upscale mall said that gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted, Sept. 21 2013.

The attack on the mall in Kenya's capital killed at least 59 people and wounded another 175. The dead include Africans, Europeans, Asians and North Americans.

Credit: Jason Straziuso/AP

Two children and a woman take cover behind a bar inside a shopping mall following an attack by masked gunmen in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

An image taken from AFP TV shows the bodies of two victims inside the Westgate Shopping Mall, following an attack by masked gunmen in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013. Masked attackers stormed the packed shopping mall, spraying gunfire before holing themselves up in the complex.

Somalia's al Qaeda-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack in which they used grenades and assault rifles and specifically targeted non-Muslims. The attackers
included some women.

The Islamic extremist rebel group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which they said was retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.

Credit: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

An image taken from AFP TV shows civilians taking cover following an attack by masked gunmen in a shopping mall in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

Civilians who had been hiding inside during the gun battle at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, manage to flee, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Jonathan Kalan/AP

An image taken from AFP TV shows a woman coming out of an air vent where she was hiding during an attack by masked gunmen at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

A dead body lies on the ground as armed policemen try to enter the Westgate Mall after masked gunmen stormed the facility, spraying gunfire on shoppers and staff.

Credit: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

A body is carried by medical personnel outside the Westgate Mall, an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Sayyid Azim/AP

An image taken from AFP TV shows Kenyan security forces taking position inside a shopping mall following an attack by masked gunmen in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

A wounded woman is helped to safety after masked gunmen stormed an upmarket mall and sprayed gunfire on shoppers and staff in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

An injured man is wheeled into the Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013, after masked attackers sprayed gunfire into a packed upmarket shopping mall.

Credit: Hoss Njuguna/AFP/Getty Images

A rescue worker helps a child outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013, after gunmen threw grenades and opened fire during an attack that left multiple dead and dozens wounded.

Credit: Riccardo Gangale/AP

Armed special force aim their weapons at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Sept. 21 2013, after gunmen threw grenades and opened fire during an attack that left multiple dead and dozens wounded.

Credit: AP Photo/Khalil Senosi

A woman who had been hiding during the gun battle runs for cover after armed police (in background) enter the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013. The upscale mall in Kenya's capital was hosting a children's day event, a Red Cross official and witnesses said.

Credit: Jonathan Kalan/AP

An image taken from AFP TV shows civilians being evacuated from a shopping mall following an attack by masked gunmen in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

A woman in shock, who had been held hostage, is carried by rescue personnel, Sept. 21, 2013. She was freed following a security operation at an upmarket shopping mall in Nairobi where suspected terrorists engaged Kenyan security forces in a drawn-out gun fight.

Credit: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

An injured man is carried away after masked gunmen stormed an upmarket mall and sprayed gunfire on shoppers and staff, Sept. 21, 2013 in Nairobi. The gunmen took an unknown number of hostages, security officials said.

Credit: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

A policeman carries a baby to safety after masked gunmen stormed an upmarket mall and sprayed gunfire on shoppers and staff in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

Civilians are evacuated from a shopping mall following an attack by masked gunmen in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

Military forces take position inside the shopping mall following an attack by masked gunmen in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

Military forces take position inside a shopping mall following an attack by masked gunmen in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

A Kenyan soldier stands next to a victim inside the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.

Credit: Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

Kenyan troops take position inside the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Sept. 21, 2013.